Batak

Full rules

1. Overview
2. Basic terms
3. Setup
4. The auction
5. Playing the tricks
6. Scoring
7. Winning the game
8. Tips for beginners
9. Variants

Overview

Batak is a Turkish trick-taking game for four players, each playing for themselves. In each deal the players hold an auction: whoever promises to win the most tricks becomes the declarer, chooses the trump suit and must then win at least that many tricks. The other three score for every trick they take – but anyone who ends a deal without a single trick goes down (batmak, "to sink"). This page describes the auction version, İhaleli Batak; the fixed-spades version and the partnership game are under Variants.

• Players: 4, each for themselves.
• You need: one standard 52-card deck without jokers, and paper and pen for the score.

Basic terms

• Trick: each player in turn plays one card face up; the best card wins all four. The winner of a trick leads (plays the first card) to the next one.
• Follow suit: play a card of the same suit as the card that was led.
• Trumps: the suit chosen by the declarer. Any trump beats any card of another suit.
• Card order: in every suit A (high) K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 (low).

Setup

1. Choose a dealer at random; after each deal, the turn to deal passes to the right.
2. The dealer shuffles, the player on the dealer's left cuts, and the dealer deals all the cards one at a time, anticlockwise, so that everyone has 13 cards.
3. Play and bidding also go anticlockwise (to the right).

The auction

1. Starting with the player on the dealer's right, each player in turn either bids a number of tricks or passes.
2. The lowest bid is 5; every bid must be higher than the one before. The highest possible bid is 13.
3. A player who passes drops out of the auction and may not bid again in this deal.
4. When all the others have passed, the last bidder is the declarer and has to win at least that many tricks.
5. All pass: if nobody bids, the dealer becomes the declarer with a bid of 4.
6. The declarer names the trump suit – any of the four suits.

Playing the tricks

1. The declarer leads to the first trick.
2. Leading trumps: you may not lead a trump until a trump has been played in an earlier trick (trumps are "broken") – unless you have nothing but trumps.
3. The others play in turn, anticlockwise. The rules for your card are strict: - Follow suit if you can, and beat the highest card of that suit in the trick if you can. - If you have no card of the suit led, you must trump. If a trump has already been played, you must play a higher trump if you can (if you can't, any trump will do). - Only if you have neither the suit led nor a trump may you play any card.
4. The highest trump wins the trick; if no trump was played, the highest card of the suit led wins. The winner leads to the next trick.

Example: hearts are trumps. Ben leads 9♣. Carla must beat it and plays Q♣ (her 4♣ is not allowed, since she can go higher). Dan has no clubs and must trump: 3♥. Anna has no clubs either; she must beat the 3♥ and plays 7♥ – she wins the trick.

Scoring

After all 13 tricks, each player scores:

Example: Anna bids 7 with hearts as trumps and wins 8 tricks: 70 + 1 = 71. Ben takes 3 tricks (30), Carla 2 (20). Dan takes none and goes down: −70.

Winning the game

Agree in advance how many deals to play – often 5, 7, 11, 15 or 21. After the last deal, the player with the highest total wins.

Tips for beginners

• Count your sure tricks before you bid: Aces, Kings behind Aces, and length in the suit you would choose as trumps.
• Choose your longest suit as trumps. Five or six trumps usually make a good bid.
• As a defender, save one trick. An Ace or a King can protect you from going down late in the deal.
• Watch the must-beat rule. You often have to play a high card you'd rather keep – plan your suits around it.

Variants

All optional – agree before you start.

• Koz Maça (spades are trumps): there is no auction; spades are always trumps. Each player in turn announces how many tricks they will take (or "none"). Making your number scores 10 × your number; taking fewer loses 10 × your number. Taking too many is also punished: at many tables, 3 or more tricks over your number counts as going down (yandan batmak). Announcing "none" and taking no trick scores +50, otherwise −50. The first lead may not be a trump.
• Partnership Batak (Eşli Batak): partners sit opposite and bid for their side; the lowest bid is 8 (dealer 7 if all pass). After trumps are named, the declarer's partner lays their cards face up on the table, and the declarer plays both hands. The declaring side makes its bid if the partners win at least that many tricks together, and scores 10 per trick taken; otherwise it loses 10 × the bid.
• Minimum bid 4: at some tables the lowest bid is 4 instead of 5.
• Leading trumps with A-K-Q: at some tables, a player holding the Ace, King and Queen of trumps may lead them one after another before trumps are broken.
• Redeal: a player whose hand has no card higher than a 10 may ask for a new deal.
• Scoring every trick: at some tables, a successful declarer scores 10 for every trick taken instead of 10 × bid + 1.